Tomblin and staff reviewing bills with deadline looming

Courtesy photo

State Senate President Jeff Kessler (standing) watched Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin sign the Future Fund bill into law last week. On Friday, Tomblin still had nearly 90 bills to make decisions on before next Tuesday's deadline.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin won’t have much time to decide what he’ll do with nearly 90 bills passed by the state lawmakers in the final days of the 60-day regular legislative session.

The governor faces a Tuesday, April 1, deadline on the bills. He didn’t receive the final bills until Friday. His office actually received 86 of the nearly 200 bills passed during the 60 days Thursday and Friday.

The bills become law without the governor’s signature following next week’s deadline.

Among those that came Friday was the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, HB 4588, also called the fetal pain bill. It would ban abortions after 20 weeks.

The governor has also yet to sign or veto the bill that would increase the minimum wage by $1.50 by 2016. Criticism of the bill picked up this week when it was discovered overtime rules were changed in the legislation.

Also awaiting the governor’s decision:

–SB 373 that creates a above ground storage tank regulatory program and requires updated emergency plans by water utilities. It’s the bill born out of the nine-county water emergency.

–HB 4175, the West Virginia Small Business Emergency Act, that would give the state emergency powers to provide small businesses loans and grants and to defer payroll tax and consumer sales tax payments to the state.

–SB 378 that would require motorists to slow to 15 miles an hour when overtaking or passing a garbage truck when it is stopped and has on its flashing lights.